- Love, Justice, & Generosity
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- Love, Justice, & Generosity
Love, Justice, & Generosity
There’s no love without vulnerability, find a way to get involved, and when being generous benefits you.
Michael Larson
May 12, 2023
On Love:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
Sometimes I feel the temptation to harden my heart and protect myself from being hurt. To get close to others, but not too close. To care about another but not too much. To serve and sacrifice for people, but in a way that I’m protected. These reservations run antithetical to the love I am intent on experiencing and practicing. Love requires us to be vulnerable. To take the risk of being hurt, and to put ourselves out there. The alternative of our hearts becoming “impenetrable” and “irredeemable” is too great a burden to bear.
On Justice:
When thinking about justice and the social issues of our time, we get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Climate change, mass incarceration, homelessness, police brutality, war, and mass shootings. Just naming a few feels daunting. We get discouraged because our day-to-day work often doesn’t align with the causes we’re passionate about. And to make matters worse, we live in a society with a news cycle constantly bombarding us daily with stories of injustice. Given this reality, we often underestimate the impact we can make with the resources at our disposal. Think about your own capacity to get involved. Do you have a few hours extra a week to volunteer? Some extra cash each month you’d be willing to donate? A skill or talent that could be used to further a cause? Find any way to get involved. When we fail to see ourselves as citizens who can make an impact, then we resign our hope and become a part of the problem. Find your issue, then find a way to get involved if you haven’t already.
On Generosity:
Garry with his scholarship benefactor.
My brother, Garry, received a scholarship while in college and had the opportunity to meet his benefactor at a dinner hosted by the school. Upon asking why his benefactor gave scholarships in the first place, she responded, “I’m not doing this for you.” She continued, “I call it self-interested generosity. I want you to be successful so you can make the world a better place for my grandkids.”
When we work to make the world a better place, it benefits us all. Generosity can be altruistic, yes, but there can be many personal benefits as well.
A question for the day:
What issue can you learn more about or get more involved in this week?
Resource of the Week:
One of the most powerful documentaries I’ve ever seen. A film about racial inequality and mass incarceration in the U.S. created by award winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
If you know of anyone who might be interested in taking this journey towards more Love, more Justice, and more Generosity in their own life and in the world, please send them this link which will allow them to sign up (or copy and send: https://ljg.beehiiv.com/subscribe).
Thank you for being here.
With Love, Justice, and Generosity,
Michael Larson